tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69073292018-03-07T21:04:04.107+05:30IDiotInstructional Design thoughts, views, musings, and daily discoveries as an entrepreneurGeeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-62871666591433854702011-03-09T18:16:00.000+05:302011-03-09T18:16:16.974+05:30“I’m not an idiot!” – A Letter from an Agonized Adult Learner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<p>I’m an adult, literate, and a professional. I manage my finances, my investments, wealth and health with equal ease. I manage my family, team, career, and social needs effortlessly. I see no reason why I cannot manage my learning and training sessions. But my training managers tend to think otherwise.</p>
<p>Here’s what my training managers think of my ability to learn:</p>
<p><i>I cannot spot Next and Back buttons. I need to be told, “Click Next to proceed.”
</i></p>
<p>Do you know, I navigate using maps both offline and online - in fact I refer to them almost everyday on my mobile phone, laptop, and especially love my treasured paper maps. I operate DVD players, music system, home theatre, and the multiple remote control sets in my house with ease. What makes you think I cannot navigate back and forth through an eLearning course?</p>
<p><i>I cannot read text on screen - I need the same to be read out!</i></p>
<p>I have been reading since I was 5! Most of my official communication happens over email with people across geographies - and so far I have not had the need for an email reader. Although, it’s not a bad idea considering I receive around 360 emails a day! I perform all my online activities with ease, whether it is fixing an appointment with my doc, booking a movie ticket, or transacting online with my bank - so far I have never had the need for audio assistance to reiterate on-screen instructions.</p>
<p><i>I cannot decide what is important and is unimportant - so block out headers, highlight too many things on the screen, force me to go through all the tabs and clicks...
</i></p>
<p>Do you really believe that if you force me to 'look' at all the tabs, you ensure that I 'learn' all the crap that’s out there! If I can navigate through heaps and piles of information around me and filter out what I need the most, what makes you think that I cannot discern between critical and non-critical info in my learning material. </p>
<p>For that matter, why offer me something that is not critical – it’s good to stick to things that are relevant to me? But yes, I realize where you are coming from - You want to cut down your effort and design for all! In the process, everyone like me is pained to receive things that are not meant for them!</p>
<p><i>My attention span is too short!
</i></p>
<p>Well, who told you this is a problem? I drive to work everyday and have a record of zero tickets despite listening to music on the way and with 5 other vehicles around me at any point of time.
<br>All my official communication happens over phone and email - and neither my wife, my boss, or for that matter my kids have ever complained to me about my lack of attention. What makes you conclude that I have a short attention span? </br>
<br>Further what makes you think that you can counter that by making me click unnecessarily on an image 5 times (to make it interactive?) Didn't it strike you that if you really wanted to hold my attention, you could make the content more engaging? Next time, try engaging my mind rather than my fingers - you may get a better feel of my attention span!</br></p>
<p><i>Ah, how can I forget the tests and CYUs...
</i></p>
<p>While I really appreciate your efforts to help me reinforce my learning, but may I request you to put in more effort in creating these tests? Smart tests are those that tease my intelligence and not question it? Most trying are those tests where your options attempt to confuse me rather than challenge me. </p>
<p><i>Fool me with layered content.
</i></p>
<p>"The course has only 15 screens; it should not take you more than 20 minutes." Well almost - until you get inside and realize there are 30 more hidden screens within these 15! Sometimes I wonder whether you really want to 'motivate' me to learn or are you trying to 'con' me by pushing across a legal document with hidden and layered clauses, sub-clauses! </p>
<p>I could go on and on - but I trust your intelligence and have hopefully got my message across to you. </p>
<p>(Inspired by some recent experience sharing sessions with <a href="http://archiespeaksout.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-is-learning-world-coming-to.html">Archana</a>.)</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-17757655281313985092010-11-13T19:42:00.002+05:302010-11-15T12:32:29.965+05:30Startup Saturday Hyderabad Nov 13 - Cloud StartupsStartup Saturday Hyderabad once again lived up to its reputation of being an active forum for startups in the city. Today's session was very topical - Cloud Startups.
The objective of the session was beautifully articulated by <a href="http://www.eveninghour.com">Priyanka</a> in her invitation email: "A peek into Hyderabad Startups dabbling in the cloud. Building solutions in SaaS model, running on the cloud (Amazon/Google App engine/++) and building utilities/tools/infrastructure for the cloud. Innovative solutions on cloud. Addressing key challenges in the biz models for cloud solutions and tech challenges."
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Ramesh Loganathan, VP (Products) and Head of Progress Software (India), kick-started the session with a quick round of introduction. C. Chaitanya from Ozonetel introduced his product <a href="http://kookoo.in/">KooKoo</a>, a cloud-based platform as a service product. KooKoo is an Inbound and Outbound IVR telephony platform that allows users to build and manage their telephony application themselves using web technology of their choice leveraging existing web infrastructure. Learn more about the product.
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The speaker of the day was Satish Madhira. Satish has gone through the full startup life cycle. He has earlier founded Yasu Technologies, ran it successfully for 10 years, and then sold it successfully to SAP in 2007. Now he runs ICUMI Technologies Pvt Ltd that operates the <a href="http://www.dealivore.com/">Dealivore </a> service.
Satish talked about 'Emerging Cloud Business models' with special emphasis on 'Gaming Models in the Cloud.' The participants had a whole lot of questions for Satish, ranging from back-end technologies to front-end expertise to Dealivore's business model.
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The next presenter was Ripul Kumar from <a href="http://www.kern-comm.com/">Kern Communications</a> Pvt Ltd. Ripul presented Kern's latest cloud-based educational technology offering. He described how a "non-technology" company could successfully develop and implement a technology solution leveraging the cloud-based infrastructure. He outlined how cloud-computing was the right solution for a company's quick and agile development needs. Cloud-based solution is cost-effective, highly scalable, and extremely reliable without the burden of maintenance, installation, and managing the back-end. He ended the session with a quick demo of the application.
The session closed with a lightening pitch by <a href="http://www.citizensocial.com">CitizenSocial</a>. Nirmala Govindan (advisory team member <a href="http://cie.iiit.ac.in/">CIE</a>) introduced CitizenSocial currently incubated at IIIT.
Unfortunately, I could not attend the last part, thanks to my three-year old who had enough of cloud-startup gyan by now. It will be great if the participants could update us about their pitches here for the benefit of those who missed it.
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The best part about Startup Saturday is the opportunity to meet up old friends, ex-colleagues, and build a network within the fraternity.Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-77679015771422851152010-07-21T23:01:00.002+05:302010-07-21T23:19:43.566+05:30What are your success criteria?Recently, I was interacting with a team of budding entrepreneurs as a mentor for the <a href="http://mentoredge.com/search/index?search_params=&amp;[city]=5&amp;button=Search">MentorEdge</a> initiative.&nbsp; I realized that most new entrepreneurs are passionate, enthusiastic and driven. At the same time, for most of them, the measure of success is how large you grow and how much money you make. Also, most seem to believe that you either earn quick money or raise quick money - ultimately, success is access to quick money. Well, quick money is like quicksand, it disappears faster than it comes!
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Be it a 500-crore company, a 5-crore company or a 5-lac company, each can be an extremely successful venture depending on its criteria of success. I define success parameters differently.
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<p>1) Since I run a consulting company, we are very clear about things we WILL do and things we will NOT do as part of our consulting services. The success factor is to stand by this decision consistently. Often we realize that we are very clear about what NOT to do rather than what to do! But for me a successful business is one that is clear about what it wants to do and even more clear about what it does NOT want to do.<p/>
<p>2) A consulting company's success depends on the success of its clients. If my clients are successful, I am successful. Am I adding value to my clients that makes them successful? What is my contribution to the success of my client? Every time a client comes back to say how our service was useful, we earn a success brownie.<p/>
<p>3) A consulting company has to have the best people in the trade. For most start-ups, it is a challenge to attract the best talent. But every time good people come on board, it's a huge success for the company. When people "want" to work for you, it is a huge compliment for your brand. On the other hand, when internally people are highly motivated to work and continue to grow with the organization, it is a bigger compliment to the success of an organization.<p/>
<p>4) Another success parameter is execution of dream projects. Every organization and every working professional should have its list of dream projects to work on. Each dream project accomplished is a tick on your success parameters. It is another matter that some of these dream projects have a very hard landing, but all the same - you at least have zero regrets about not working on those. And, all the better if you come out of them wiser than before! <p/>
<p>5) Dream clients are next on my criteria of success. For a consulting company, it is the list of clients that makes a difference. If you have an enviable client's list, you have a blank check. Clients lead to more clients, and more clients lead to more business - simple equation. Well, on after thoughts - it is not that simple. A lot of hard work goes into earning client loyalty. And that by itself is a huge benchmark of success.<p/>
<p>Size of the company and volume of business are just the visible outcome; they are poor determinants of success. So what are your success criteria?<p/>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-44792039577158847802010-07-11T09:17:00.012+05:302010-07-11T15:44:03.702+05:30Startup Saturday - Hyderabad July 10<br>I spent an interesting Saturday with the Hyderabad <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/hydstartups?hl=en&pli=1">Startup Group</a>. The theme was Mobile. Apart from Farhan Azhar and Shiva the guest speakers, there were a couple of lightning speeches as well. It was good to hear Farhan speak. Farhan is a successful serial entrepreneur from Hyderabad. It will be good if someone can update Farhan's entrepreneurship ventures.
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<br> Farhan's talk was interesting and insightful. He highlighted the key points about building products especially those that are self-funded. The key takeaways:
<br>a. Simplicity: The product should be simple
<br>b. Small team: Usually have a team size of less than 4 people. An ideal composition should be an usability expert, a programmer (and not a geek) who understands business and human need, a marketing person who can communicate in English and someone to have a tight control over the finances.
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<br>He rightly pointed out the 3 things that really work for mobile-based technology:
<br>1. Voice
<br>2. SMS
<br>3. Mobile web
<br> Out of these 1 & 2 are the most universal. Therefore, content should be delivered in either of these modes.
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<br>In response to queries and discussions around mobile phone apps, Farhan shared the research findings about what drives mobile phone apps. They should be:
<br>- Bursty (like an sms or an alert that draws your attention)
<br>- Obsessive (addictive - so that people have sufficient motivation to adopt the apps - eg twitter)
<br>- Leisure (when people are relatively free to engage with their phones)
<br><br>Shiva from <a href="http://Apalya.com">Apalya.com</a> shared his experience in growing Apalya and the future plans. Apalya are the pioneers of video technology on mobile phone and are now the leading providers of <a href="http://www.mimobi.tv/apalya/">mobile television</a>.
<br><br>The lightening pitches by Abhishek Sinha and Chakri prompted interesting discussions among the group. Abhishek spoke about a topic that is close to my heart - education. He rightly pointed out some of the big concerns that parents today have about the 'right' kind of education for children. Abhishek is a consultant working is the area of improving the processes in schools as well as educating the parents about demanding quality education. He presented his ideas about how technological interventions in the educational processes of a school/institute can address concerns such as quality of teachers, feedback to teachers, quality of education, school environment and so on.
<br><br>Chakri presented an interesting idea of how to use social networking for business. He has developed a site called <a href="http://tracemates.com/index.php">tracemates.com</a>. It is a social networking site connecting like people with similarities. The unique feature of the site is a compatibility calculator!
<br><br>While the organizers certainly have an unenviable task of organizing and promoting these meets. The quality of these meets could be certainly improved so as to inspire more participation. Compared to the startup meets in Bangalore and Mumbai, the meet in Hyd lacked structure, rigor, and seemed ad hoc. Certainly, participants have a big role to play in energizing these meets. My thoughts on how to make the meet more meaningful:
<br><br>1) Invite participation at least 2 weeks in advance - give presenters time to plan and prepare well
<br>2) Maintain strict time lines - lightening pitches or elevator pitches must be lightening - done in 2 mins
<br>3) Many meets share some guidelines that work well - I can share a format with the group
<br>4) Participants should register in advance, share their introductory details with the group online
<br>5) If there are more participants/presenters, make it an unconference. Time is precious, esp a Saturday morning! Let people choose to attend any presentation they like, we all have laptops and datacards, should not be a big deal to present in small groups! Welcome your thoughts.Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-88217361899605657162010-06-24T15:15:00.001+05:302010-06-24T15:18:10.491+05:30LMS dialogsLMS vs. Learners
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LMS vs. Learning - ROI
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<p>LMS vs. Deewaar</p>
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<p>For all those Deewaar fans! Couldn't resist this one.
And, apologies to non-Hindi speaking audience. The translation will not do any justice to the strip.</p>
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Sometimes, LMS can also make us smile. :)Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-64709021250283294472010-06-13T16:08:00.005+05:302010-06-13T16:34:54.266+05:30Thinking of Setting Up an Advisory Panel?<p>During my research about how to set up an advisory board, I came across some useful information. Hope this comes in handy for new entrepreneurs and startups looking for advisors who am sure have questions galore about how to go about this arduous task. I remember attending a Webinar last year conducted by TiE Mumbai where <a href="http://in.linkedin.com/in/madanpadaki">Madan Padaki</a> spoke about how he set up his advisory board. Summarizing some of the key points from Madan's session as well as from <a href="http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/10/12/should-your-startup-have-an-advisory-board/">Mark Suster</a>, <a href="http://jordancooper.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/founders-beware-true-advisors-dont-ask-for-free-equity">Jordan Cooper</a>, and others' blogs:</p>
<p><b>Why look for advisors?</b>
<br>The reasons why companies look for advisors may vary. Some look for advisors for pure "gyan" and mentoring support during their maiden entrepreneurship venture. For others, a good advisory board can help create the right kind of impression and impact when looking for business. Most people seek prominent industry experts, luminaries, highly networked individuals, or people in highly influential positions etc as part of their advisory board. The agenda for most are either or all of these:
<br>a) Provide valuable gyan or mentoring support
<br>b) Be the company's brand ambassador/mouthpiece
<br>c) Help get business contacts</p>
<p>Whatever be the objective, it is ideal to have an advisory panel of 3 or more advisors. This will help get the right combination of advisors to make a difference.</p>
<p><b>Where/How to look for advisors?</b>
<br>Your first choice should be to find an expert from your own domain or from your own industry. This will ensure that you get enough wisdom from someone who knows your industry well and has had similar experiences facing the challenges that you encounter to be able to provide you advice on the same. You could begin with known people in your circle, acquaintances, senior ex-colleagues etc.</p>
<p>The next choice could be to look for someone who can be your brand ambassador. Someone who has the right reach to help you reach out to the world. The person could be an existing client, somebody from the media, academia or a public figure well-respected in the industry circles. It is always interesting to have an advisor from academia for various reasons. a. They would typically have more time to spend with you compared to advisors who have a hectic corporate or public life. b. Academic advisors can bring in a lot of credibility while looking for business. c. Advising is almost an occupational hazard for them, so you can always depend upon their gyan and advice.</p>
<p>Some tips from Madan about how to approach potential advisors:
<br>- Clearly define what you need and who you need
<br>- Seek and shortlist
<br>- Don't ask (send a request)
<br>- Sell your dream - they should sense your passion
<br>- Be upfront about what you can give - though advisors typically are not looking for your money
<br>- Tone down your expectations on their contributions (after all they are doing this to help you)</p>
<p><b>What to expect from advisors?</b>
<br>This is a particularly interesting question. While we all may have our own reasons for setting up an advisory board, how can we ensure that advisory boards really add value to us as well as to our business? I came across an interesting post by Mark Suster "<a href="http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/10/12/should-your-startup-have-an-advisory-board">Should Your Startup Have an Advisory Board</a>?". He specifies some advisory board problems in great detail. Here's a quick recap:
<br>- Not enough time
<br>- Not enough wisdom
<br>- Too much effort
<br>- Expensive</p>
<p><b>How to make the most of your advisory board?</b>
<br>Apart from the useful tips by Mark Suster, Madan also specifies some points that can help you make the most of your advisory board.
<br>- Send them updates (made a calendar of events) informed them, posted updates, involved them in all significant achievements of the company, involve them
<br>- If your advisory panel is a very diverse group, avoid getting them together. If the common topics between them are very different, it will be difficult to bind them into a common theme. On the contrary, group interactions can also be good for your advisors when they get to meet other influencers and benefit from the association.
<br>- Be transparent about crisis etc with them - it is critical to build a relationship of trust with them.
<br>- Get about 1 or 2 hrs of their time over a 2-3 months period, with every meeting, try to increase their mind share about your company. Over time, their involvement will increase.</p>
<p><b>What should you offer them?</b>
<br>Here, I came across a lot of information about what to offer the advisors. The point that came out very clearly is that mentors/advisors are not interested in 'your' money. They are typically successful people who have been there, done that and seen it all. They are passionate about growing a small start up to a successful company. The reasons why they've said a yes could be many. They may have found your idea exciting, liked your dream, or liked you :) !</p>
<p>While advisors typically are not looking for monetary gains or a remuneration, an acceptable return for services rendered could be a stake of about 0.1% (not exceeding 2%) depending on the state of the startup. Jordan Cooper sheds some light on paying advisors with equity in his post '<a href="http://jordancooper.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/founders-beware-true-advisors-dont-ask-for-free-equity">Founder Beware: True "Advisors" Don't Ask for Free Equity.</a>' You can also read through some discussions about <a href="http://www.startupnation.com/How-much-equity-for-advisormentor/topic">how much equity to hand out to advisor or mentor</a>. On the other hand, Madan had mentioned that you could offer them a remuneration - a monthly honorarium for the services rendered - once your business starts flowing smoothly.</p>
<p>Some informative reads, please add to the list if you come across more:
<br>1) http://jordancooper.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/founders-beware-true-advisors-dont-ask-for-free-equity/
<br>2) http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/01/role-models.html
<br>3) http://www.startupnation.com/How-much-equity-for-advisormentor/topic/
<br>4) http://startups.com/questions/3760/equity-to-advisor
<br>5) http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/10/12/should-your-startup-have-an-advisory-board/</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-62511329144511478132010-05-21T00:21:00.014+05:302010-05-21T00:59:40.619+05:30Celebrating learning and development professionals and their initiatives<p>Having run a training and learning consulting company for the last 6 years and having worked with clients, vendors, and fellow learning professionals; I realize that the world is divided into two parts - those who provide training (vendors) and those who need training (clients).</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S_WIKuMoelI/AAAAAAAABeU/zL8712cwjMo/s1600/Vendors-vs-clients-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S_WIKuMoelI/AAAAAAAABeU/zL8712cwjMo/s400/Vendors-vs-clients-2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473430639919790674" /></a>
<span style="font-style:italic;">(Big thank you to <a href="http://www.elearningart.com/">eLearningArt</a> for the useful stock images!)</span>
<p>Most of my folks are on this side of the table (those who provide training). Being on this side of the table, I get to see and hear a lot of their anger, frustration, challenges, brilliance, and happiness in dealing with clients, executing projects, or finding resources. The angst is equal on the other side as well. L&D heads and HR managers have a tough time dealing with difficult or incompetent vendors, identifying talent, coaching and mentoring truckloads of people, and managing ever increasing demands of the organization.</p>
<p>Increasingly, a training professional's role is becoming more holistic. It is moving away from just tactical interventions (instructional design and delivery) to more strategic ones like identifying competency gaps, planning training curriculum, co-creating training calendars along with clients etc. </p>
<p>Often our worlds are so polarized that we either create villains out of each other or completely ignore each others contribution to the ultimate goal of "learning, talent development, and skill enhancement.”</p>
<p>LionSher is an initiative to bridge this gap. It has a flavor of "learning activism" that helps us overcome the cynicism attached to each role and celebrate the efforts and achievements of folks on either side of the table. </p>
<p>At LionSher, we want to feature HR managers, T&D managers and L&D heads who have been digging away diligently in their organizations - sometimes bearing the tag of being "cost centers" for their companies. We also want to highlight the contributions of learning designers, learning design companies, and trainers as they share their experiences, pet peeves, and unforgettable moments.</p>
<p>The first interview on LionSher features <a href="http://in.linkedin.com/in/mathewkuruvilla">Mathew Kuruvilla</a>, Head of Talent & Development, South Asia Deutsche Bank AG. Mathew, who has spent a decade and half in the industry, shares his concerns, experiences, and his vision of the way ahead for L&D professionals. </p>
<p>I'd like to invite you all to share your thoughts and give back to the community in your own way. As I see it, these transitions are not in isolation. I can clearly see a new breed of training professionals emerging... (food for thought for my next blog!)</p>
<p>Kudos to our LionSher team! They have put together an elegant platform to publish the articles. Do check out the first interview on <a href="http://www.lionsher.com/learningden/mathew_kuruvilla">LionSher</a> and leave your valuable comments and feedback.</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-23474190597472681372010-03-28T18:29:00.019+05:302010-03-29T18:19:02.668+05:30How to facilitate synchronous learning for real and virtual learners using technology?<p>The other day I had interesting discussions with <a href="http://twitter.com/thoughts">Geetha Krishnan</a> about possible ways of using technology to facilitate synchronous learning for remote learners. </p>
<p>Let's explore a scenario. An institute wants to deliver a training program to a global audience not only for its on-campus learners but also for remote learners. The faculty uses various tools and approaches to facilitate discussion, sharing, and participation in the class. </p>
<p>The challenge for the institute is - Can you facilitate a 7-day program for a client such that 10 of their top managers are present in the institute campus while 10 others join in from a remote campus?</p>
<p><b>What are the program objectives?</p></b>
<p>- Conduct the program successfully for both real and virtual teams. </p>
<p>- Client should derive the same value from the virtual program as they have derived from the real one.</p>
<p>- There should not be significant change in content delivery and design.</p>
<p><b>What are the challenges?</p></b>
<p>- Motivation of real and virtual teams can vary significantly</p>
<p>- Faculty needs to explore and improvise to make the program participative for both teams (real and virtual)</p>
<p>- Online learners should enjoy all benefits - discussions, debates, hands-on activities, and impromptu sharing</p>
<p>- Make the program run beyond the physical constraints of the classroom and yet retain the flavor of a face-to-face session.</p>
<P>This kind of delivery has 2 challenges if both the programs happen synchronously:</p>
<P>The campus participants will have to interact with the remote participants.</P>
<P>The faculty will have to deliver to both the real and virtual participants. This means all instructional activities must be designed to support this.</P>
<p>Let's explore some alternatives/suggestions</p>
<p><b>1) Webcast classroom proceedings live</p></b>
<p>This is a good approach if the duration of delivery is not more than one hour. However, beyond an hour, the virtual participants will be restless and lose attention. In addition, unless there is sufficient interactivity between real and virtual learners, the class will be dull, boring, and passive. In such a scenario, the faculty will have additional responsibility of delivering lectures as well as creating activities that are inclusive and participative for both sets of learners. </p>
<p><b>2) Has to be a blend of synchronous and asynchronous events</p></b>
<p>Have you watched a cricket match live in a stadium? Am sure many of us have watched a cricket match synchronously on television as well. What are the ingredients that make both versions entertaining with both parties having their share of fun? Live viewing on the cricket field has the audience engaged in on-field match as well as the stadium activities. The crowd bonds and participates together in sharing the fun on the field. Each hit or a wicket draws out reactions from the spectators as they experience the excitement together. </p>
<p>On the other hand, for the audience, viewing the match on television, has other attractions. They not only watch the on-field activities and proceedings, they get to listen to some entertaining commentaries about the match. They get to listen to analysis from experts, watch statistics on the screen, and watch action replay of critical moments. Added to that there are visuals, graphics, and a lot of trivia to sustain their interest and engage them completely. What they miss out in terms of live on-field experience they more than make up for it from the multi-pronged information sources directed at them through the tele. The only significant exception is that both sets of audience do not need to interact with each other.</p>
<p>This can be clubbed with other asynchronous activities such as team projects, recommended readings, research, lab activities, and preparations.</p>
<p>3) Some interesting information about virtual classroom and do's, and don'ts about technology to be used </p>
<p>a. An interesting presentation on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/markchilds/streaming-theatre-in-a-virtual-classroom-case-study">Streaming Theater in a virtual classroom</a>:</p>
<p>b. Innovations Showcase: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/tamaracarpenter/innovations-showcase-virtual-classroom-collation">Virtual classroom in a Web 2.0 world</a> </p>
<p>c. An interesting analysis of Web2.0 tools for learning <a href="http://geetabose.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-web-20-tools-designed-to-support.html">Are Web 2.0 tools designed to support learning?</a> </p>
<p>d. Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age - A longish video (watch it with a large mug of coffee) </p>
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<p><b>4) What's the team like? </p></b>
<p>a. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Technology team:</span> Quite obviously, the tech team needs to set up a lab to webcast the proceedings and not just a front view footage of the faculty talking. They must cover interesting happenings, reactions, and discussions. Need special application of hardware, software and network technologies to auto generate j-i-t content based on inputs from participants and faculty.</p>
<p>b. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Graphics team:</span> There must be a team of graphic designers who can create interesting templates for analysis of events unfolding in the class. They must be ready to provide interesting visual interpretation and visual summary of events as and when needed. </p>
<p>c. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Instructional Design team:</span> The team of IDs should collaborate with the faculty well in advance to plan the learning activities (classroom as well as offline). They should be prepared with the content analysis, attention grabbers, trivia, de-briefs of case studies or discussions, provide data on the fly to the graphic design and technology team. </p>
<p><b>5) What are the ID challenges?</p></b>
<p>a. In short, the ID team should orchestrate the session in close collaboration with the faculty, the technology team, the graphic design team and all the while keep their focus on the learners, their needs, and the content to be delivered.</p>
<p>b. Design activities for virtual learners and facilitate sharing across barriers.</p>
<p>c. Synchronize these activities such that there is no time lag and activity time is well utilized.</p>
<p>d. Use a delivery platform that will make the sharing synchronous and real time; almost like a video conferencing tool where participants can actually talk to each other.</p>
<p>e. Interaction has to be one to one and one to many. </p>
<p>f. Activities have to be a combination of individual and group; online and offline (synchronous and asynchronous)</p>
<p>g. Use social networking tool like yammer for discussion n exchange of ideas. However, exercise caution with social networking tools. While you may have an evolved set of learners but they may not necessarily be tech savvy.</p>
<p>I would like to ask my fellow Instructional Designers, educationists, and bloggers to share their experience with virtual and real collaboration; the kind of technology they have used; the possible pitfalls and the possible improvements.</p>
<p>On a lighter note, if what you see below was possible in 1977, anything is possible in 2010!</p>
<p>
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</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-46354273082134615092010-01-22T01:54:00.029+05:302010-01-28T19:03:19.196+05:30The Idiot’s Guide to Storyboarding!<p><span style="font-style:italic;">(Warning and Disclaimer: Those who have not watched the movie 3 Idiots may find it difficult to relate to the 3 I references. No attempts to lay claims on the box office proceeds from the movie. ;)</span></p>
<p>I enjoyed watching 3 Idiots so did 200 odd people sitting in the theater. The movie achieved its goal – entertain the audience, engage them, and connect with them. I began to watch closely and have listed the first 5 storyboarding lessons from 3 Idiots. Shouldn't our learning courses also engage our learners, connect with them, and motivate them to learn?</p>
<p>1) Creating a Persona </p>
<p>Look at persona creation of VIRUS. When you build a persona it has to be well rounded - the personality or characterization has to be consistent across situations and events from the beginning to the end. Although the focus is on another idea or a thought, the characters stay true to the persona and consistently exhibit the characteristics.</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fs3X1PSBI/AAAAAAAABPI/bkCCC2UExw4/s1600-h/Virus_persona3.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 133px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fs3X1PSBI/AAAAAAAABPI/bkCCC2UExw4/s320/Virus_persona3.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431742324131448850" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2FsuP63hAI/AAAAAAAABPA/HtWCXMKHWqE/s1600-h/Virun_persona1.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 133px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2FsuP63hAI/AAAAAAAABPA/HtWCXMKHWqE/s320/Virun_persona1.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431742167388750850" /></a>
<p>Let's extrapolate this lesson to an eLearning storyboard. We often use characters such as experts, learners, wanna-be learners who follow the expert, secondary personae and/or influencer-personae (for example a team member, a client, or a negative character). These characters should ideally play a critical role in learning.</p>
<p>Typically, when IDs think of characters in storyboards, the characters emerge as props, rarely are they key to the delivery of the message. Whether we like it or not, we keep emphasizing the content and do not focus on the message. The outcome is that we create screens of content using fancy graphics, pictures, tabs etc. And, the characters simply fill spaces between content. We lose the opportunity of using them effectively to deliver the message.</p>
<p>Some interesting examples where characters aid the learning process:</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fm_7ONKWI/AAAAAAAABOo/PcO_LRx5vso/s1600-h/Character-Antiterrorist.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fm_7ONKWI/AAAAAAAABOo/PcO_LRx5vso/s320/Character-Antiterrorist.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431735874000595298" /></a>
(Courtesy: http://www.alleninteractions.com/)
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2FnTLqoQsI/AAAAAAAABOw/1ycn1DgOZ3A/s1600-h/kid-character-2.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2FnTLqoQsI/AAAAAAAABOw/1ycn1DgOZ3A/s320/kid-character-2.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431736204832293570" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fn_qFtqvI/AAAAAAAABO4/rDr8AS7J5RM/s1600-h/Kid-character-3.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2Fn_qFtqvI/AAAAAAAABO4/rDr8AS7J5RM/s320/Kid-character-3.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431736968913201906" /></a>
(Courtesy: http://www.chop.edu/kidshealthgalaxy/index.html)
<p>Am sure learners can identify the on-screen characters and relate them with the message easily!</p>
<p>2) Flow and transition</p>
What distinguishes a good storyboard from a poor one? It is the flow and transition between scenes. The 3I storyboard exhibits this in great detail and at several instances. In fact, transition between scenes is the hallmark of good cinematography as well. You will find this common across all great movies that you've seen till date, think about it. </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2GQNIbx8TI/AAAAAAAABPQ/xmUNVdhAC8M/s1600-h/ICE_transition.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 133px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2GQNIbx8TI/AAAAAAAABPQ/xmUNVdhAC8M/s320/ICE_transition.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431781180862230834" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2GQUeypHZI/AAAAAAAABPY/Sw4kskBBVVw/s1600-h/ICE_transition2.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 133px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S2GQUeypHZI/AAAAAAAABPY/Sw4kskBBVVw/s320/ICE_transition2.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431781307122785682" /></a>
<p>In the 3 Idiots storyboard, transition is used effectively to move seamlessly across time - from past to the present. Many filmmakers use this tactic to connect scenes from the past and the present, to connect thoughts and actions, actions and reactions, and to bridge distances - resulting in tighter and smarter story lines!</p>
<p>3) Minimal jazz</p>
<p>Apart from the regular dose of song and dance, the movie did not spend on expensive foreign locales and action effects. Most scenes have a clear connect to the objective of the story that goes a long way in holding audience attention.</p>
<p>In the context of an eLearning storyboard, avoid jazz if it does not add value to the story. Avoid all these extravagant effects such as a "spinning logo" or an unwanted animation of how board meeting is in progress or a video of the floor of the bank that have zero or minimal impact on learning. Stick to a tightly woven storyboard and add effects "only" where necessary.</p>
<p>Below is an example of a storyboard with a simple yet effective layout.</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S16FVa-eALI/AAAAAAAABOY/z1UEX6fTPw0/s1600-h/No+jazz.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S16FVa-eALI/AAAAAAAABOY/z1UEX6fTPw0/s320/No+jazz.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430924803720478898" /></a>
(Courtesy: http://www.neovistas.com)
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S16FmmtLCyI/AAAAAAAABOg/g6VKMqiboEg/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2010-01-26+at+12.08.34+AM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 158px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/S16FmmtLCyI/AAAAAAAABOg/g6VKMqiboEg/s320/Screen+shot+2010-01-26+at+12.08.34+AM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430925098926934818" /></a>
(Courtesy: http://www.pixelearning.com)
The above is a visual treat but may not have a great impact on learning.
<p>4) Abundant examples</p>
<p>What stands out in the 3I storyboard is the abundant use of examples. The design goal seems to be "do not preach" "demonstrate". Every scene is actually an example or a combination of examples. This makes it so easy for the audience to relate and absorb the message without it being forced down their throat. The movie is full of examples that describe Rancho's unconventional wisdom - the ragging scene, the scenes where he demonstrates to Kareena the futility of marrying a "price tag", or the many scenes where he interacts with his professors in an unconventional manner.</p>
<p>We all know that examples make it easier for learners to relate to the content or the message. But it is also important to ensure that examples are relevant, interesting and humorous.</p>
<p>5) Voice-over narration</p>
<p>If you notice, in movies like 3I, Lage Raho Munnabhai, and Rang De Basanti (and other popular Bollywood hits), the voice over narration is lively, interesting, witty, and funny. It perfectly complements the on-screen scene. In 3I, the voice over narrative acts as a transition between scenes. It introduces the scene and then lets the characters play out the scene. This brings a perfect balance between the voice-over narrative and the on-screen scenes.</p>
<p>This is something that IDs must remember while storyboarding. Audio has always been a controversial element in eLearning. The easy way out of this controversy has been "add audio" on all screens so that a course has audio consistently. Therefore, audio, which is otherwise a powerful element of design typically ends up being a redundant verbal instruction or narration of what we see on the screen. During numerous <a href="http://elearning.kern-comm.com/?p=201">learner testing</a>, we have seen learners turn-off the audio because it hinders thought process in self-paced learning. However, if the audio is interesting, informative, and adds value to on-screen information, then learners will have sufficient motivation to listen to the audio.</p>
<p>A good eLearning should be a complete package. The storyboard, character selection, dialogs, music, cinematography, and editing must blend well to form a great learning material. Another critical element used abundantly is humor. It easily connects with the audience and establishes a rapport with them. This helps establish trust and get the audience involved at a cognitive level. Drama, pathos, surprise etc are all handled with a touch of humor. The description of the "poor" and "poverty stricken" family has a touch of humor that drives the point yet does not make the audience uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Why can’t our storyboards be more human and less digital? During one of the conferences I had attended last year, one of the speakers questioned - "Why can't eLearning be exciting and entertaining like cricket and Bollywood?" Many other speakers jumped at him saying "eLearning is about learning while cricket and Bollywood are for entertainment." And the debate can go on... But the point is why can't we make learning more interesting and entertaining? This can definitely solve the big problem of motivation for learners!</p>
<p>I guess we need to consider digital learning less literally and design for real learners. What are your thoughts - should our storyboards be as entertaining as our Bollywood flicks? </p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-67440052292992211322009-11-08T00:17:00.010+05:302009-11-16T14:16:34.660+05:30Highlights of ELELTECH India 2009<p>The National Seminar on e-Learning & e-Learning Technologies concluded yesterday in Hyderabad in the JNTU campus. It was good to attend a conference on eLearning after very long. The <a href="http://www.cdachyd.in/eleltech/node/40">ELELTECH</a> India 2009 national conference was organized jointly by CDAC and JNTU. </p>
<p>The high point of the conference was the speech by the chief guest (Prof Ananth, Director IIT Madras). He talked about the need for experiential learning as the key to effective learning. He shared his vision of education for all and how the <a href="http://nptel.iitm.ac.in">NPTEL</a> program was working towards this vision through the virtual IIT classes. </p>
<p>NPTEL was certainly the theme on day one! Every speaker highlighted the effort dedicated to this project. The fact that MHRD has sanctioned around Rs 400 crore to this initiative made everybody in the room sit up and take notice. </p>
<p>Well, ELELTECH will soon release the highlights of the seminar including the talks on their website so I'll stick to a critical appreciation of the seminar. </p>
<p> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Things that were good:</span></p>
<p>1) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Good panel of speakers:</span> It was a privilege listening to the speakers as they shared their experiences, practices, and visions. Here's a highlight of some of the interesting and passionate sessions:</p>
<p>a. Prof Mangala Sunder Krishnan (IIT Madras), who presented NPTEL in detail. It was great to get an insight into how they have conceptualized, planned, and executed this mammoth program. The next steps forward are evaluating the effectiveness of the program, gathering feedback from learners, teachers, and viewers, and more importantly building other instructional activities around this program. For example, creating certification programs, lab exercises, simulations, etc.</p>
<p>b. Prof Sahana Murthy, Assistant Prof, CDEEP, IIT Bombay: She presented a unique initiative by IIT Bombay called <a href="http://ekalavya.iitb.ac.in/oscarHome.do">OSCAR</a>. She used the project OSCAR case study to describe what makes eLearning successful. Despite some technological glitches at the venue, we could see interesting web-based interactive animations used to create a more engaging and challenging learning environment for students.</p>
<p>c. Prof Kavi Narayan Murthy, University of Hyderabad: This was an interesting presentation exploring the opportunities and challenges involved in using eLearning as a tool for language learning. He presented the toolkit developed by his group for Indian languages.</p>
<p>d. Ms Jhumpa Ghosh Ray, director Change Initiatives: She presented her <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25713&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">experience</a> about installing an eLearning device called Kyan in 65 state run schools in rural Bengal; the positive impact of this experiment on student turnout, teachers motivation, and overall learning effectiveness.</p>
<p>e. Dr Vinod Joshi, SKS Microfinance: This was the highlight of the second day when Dr Joshi presented the 3-tier review model for eLearning modules. He emphasized the need for an iterative review process where reviews should be performed in relationship with all other activities. </p>
<p>2) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Wide coverage of presentations:</span> There were presentations about eLearning technologies, glimpse into the latest work done on the educational campuses (open source learning systems, video conferencing tools, and innovative learning tools), best practices in corporates like Honeywell, innovations in learning technologies for the visually challenged, and other trends in eLearning.</p>
<p>3) The conference had talented speakers and practitioners from all industry, academia, and non-profit sectors.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight:bold;">Things that could be better:</span></p>
<p>1) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Quality of presentations could be more consistent.</span> There were great presentations while some of them were very basic and some were really poor. In a world-class seminar of this magnitude, there is a need for tighter and more stringent quality regulation.</p>
<p>2) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Categorization of sessions:</span> While the program schedule had pre-defined session titles and objectives, not all speakers/presentations adhered to this tightly. For example, during a session on Quality Assurance and Standards, we had a presentation about an open source eLearning platform, <a href="http://www.iitk.ac.in/doaa/DOAA/brihaspati.htm">Brihaspathi</a>, developed by IIT Kanpur. This was an amazing tool and a good presentation by Dr Y.N. Singh, but it didn't fit into the session category so it was an abrupt shift from QA discussions held through the session. </p>
<p>3) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Over-emphasis on technology:</span> Well people may disagree with me, but there was an over-emphasis on technology and not on learning. Also not all technology aspect was directly related to eLearning. Therefore these sessions seemed more like internal classroom presentations about what the department is dabbling with rather than cutting edge innovations in eLearning technology. Wish these were filtered early and quality monitored!</p>
<p>4) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Parallel sessions:</span> In conferences like these that cover a wide range of domains within one broad domain, it's a good practice to have parallel sessions. People can pick and choose the sessions they want to attend and make the most of their time that they spend at the conference. In fact, this makes the sessions more focused, interactions more defined, and exchange of information much better.</p>
<p>5) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Balance between industry and academia:</span> The seminar was more inclined towards academic world. Since most of these initiatives will affect adults, working men/woman, and students as they step into the industry, there should be more representation from the industry about research and innovations.</p>
<p>6) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lacking in innovative approach:</span> It was ironical that a session on eLearning technologies was technically backwards! There was no innovative use of time of the great speakers who had gathered there. The breaks could have been used more imaginatively, web 2.0 technologies could have been used better. </p>
<p>- There could have been live streaming of the sessions, could have given it more reach and credibility </p>
<p>- There could be free wi-fi for people who would want to twitter and blog about the sessions </p>
<p>- They could have organized tables with ports and encouraged people to present to groups in an informal setting during breaks. </p>
<p>- The sessions should have been more interactive. People were bursting with questions to explore and discuss, but were cut short by the facilitators and moderators for lack of time.</p>
<p>- Since the objective was to enable people to share and interact, this could have been a conscious effort at all times. Maybe some imaginative ways to facilitate that.</p>
<p>7) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Time allocation:</span> Poor time management can be a pain point for all! Especially when you have spent money and devoting precious time attending a conference. Organizers must pay special attention to better time allocation and time management. In a sequential presentation format, it is obvious that time encroachment of one session can have a ripple effect on the schedules of others. Therefore, ideally inform speakers in advance about the maximum time they can spend on their sessions; and adhere to it closely irrespective of whether its an invited speaker, key note speaker or a chief guest.</p>
<p>Having said this, organizing a seminar is not easy and it involves more than a year's effort to organize something at this scale. Hat's off to CDAC and JNTU for executing this as best as they could. I hope the above points are taken as feedback to ensure that these seminars are a delight for attendees and participants!</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-4138281135949816042009-08-13T00:17:00.003+05:302009-08-13T00:25:56.958+05:30Are you offering a Merc when he's looking for a Maruti? – Are you scaring your clients away?<p>It's but natural that given the economic situation, companies are selling hard and aggressively in the market. But all the hard selling and aggression can be futile if this does not match the need of the market. Given the crisis in the industry, most companies have evolved methodologies and processes to strengthen their systems. This in turn means that their sales teams are under double the pressure to market these competencies as well as fetch business. Here are some pointers from personal experience about how to make a customer-focused pitch without diluting your core competency or making an overkill.</p>
<p>a. Are you scaring your clients away?</p>
<p>Often, more than the cost, an overly grandiose proposal can scare your clients away. Recently, when we were sending out a proposal to a client, Rahul our director sales and marketing upon receiving the proposal called back frantically saying that the proposal looked quite daunting. The detailed description of our methodology could scare the potential client who is looking for a very specific part-solution. Well, although our intention is genuine wherein we want our clients to know the depths of our processes but too much information for a busy client can overwhelm them. Some may equate extensive details with high project cost and shy away from proceeding with the proposal.</p>
<p>b. What is your motive? Offering a solution to the client or generating additional business for yourself?</p>
<p>Many believe it is good business sense to create additional needs for your client and in the process generate more work for themselves. However, I believe it is foolhardy to make the client spend more that what they currently need (more so given the economic situation). In fact, I believe the solutions that we offer our clients should not just meet but always surpass their expectations. Only then will your clients trust you and respect your ideas.</p>
<p>c. Have you captured your clients' needs before proposing to them?</p>
<p>Am sure most of us practice this. But what I want to emphasize is do we really probe and discuss with our prospects to understand their 'real' need? Here's an example. A client comes to us saying that they want us to train their telesales about some basic technical concepts. The usual practice would involve understanding the domain, gathering information about telesales and subsequently designing the training. However, the key here is to understand 'why' does the organization need this training? If they have internal trainers why are they looking outside? If they have had this training before, what is it are they expecting to be 'different from this training? It definitely helps if you can gather informal information about their expectations, their experiences from earlier training etc.</p>
<p>d. Do your clients need what you are selling?</p>
<p>Are you offering a solution because you have one and must sell or are you offering it because the solution best fits your client's need? In the past, eLearning earned a bad reputation in the Indian market because many eLearning companies pushed eLearning to clients who were not ready for it. Many of these clients got carried away by its sales spiel (cost-effective, no geographic constraints, no recurring cost etc) only to realize later that this mode of delivery was not right for their industry or their employees. Consequently their investment in eLearning went waste. This led to distrust and loss of credibility for eLearning and other training providers in the industry.</p>
<p>You may have a solid methodology, a great product, and a fantastic development team. However, over-pitching may scare your clients away! </p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-81800367984737374432009-06-21T22:15:00.008+05:302009-07-20T18:02:24.394+05:30Do you simply test your eLearning product or do you evaluate it?<p>I often encounter questions about the virtues of testing versus evaluating an eLearning product. These are critical questions that each learning professional must ask in order to design an effective course.</p>
<p>While most companies are happy with a typical QA that includes the usual rounds of reviews and course testing, it is not enough to make a course usable and learnable. There remains the obvious BIG gap - the role of the "learner" in the <a href="http://elearning.kern-comm.com/?p=547">testing process</a>. This is ironic because the learner is the recipient of the course and it is tragic if the learner does not get an opportunity to test the course prior to release; and consequently finds the course 'un-learnable', unusable, and ineffective!</p>
<p>Here are <a href="http://elearning.kern-comm.com/?p=561">5 reasons</a> why you should relook at your development process and involve your learners in the "evaluation" process.</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-68566709778482592632009-04-09T17:50:00.005+05:302009-04-09T18:16:42.093+05:305 things IDs can think differently about!<p>I often come across instructional designers who are pretty much stuck with things that they had started out doing early in their careers. While over time, their exposure to tools, kinds of courses, and abilities to handle content and clients have increased, what I see unchanged is their approach to instructional design. Unfortunately, most organizations, training companies, trainers and instructional designers are still hesitant about adopting newer methodologies. Bloom, Gagne, and ADDIE continue to be the cornerstone of instructional design even today. While these are good as foundation stones, the fun is to evolve and explore newer techniques and methods.</p>
<p>To begin with, let's check out 5 things IDs can think differently about!</p>
<p>1. Overcome the itch to design: Every ID must overcome the itch to design. This is almost always responsible for training that is content-centric and not learner-centric. As soon as you receive the content and the project specs, do not jump into design. Spend substantial time on the analysis phase, understanding your learners. Ask these questions about your learner:</p>
<p>- What is the profile of my learner?</p>
<p>- Why do my learners need training?</p>
<p>- What relevance can I show my learners through this training?</p>
<p>- What will they achieve at the end of the training that will significantly change the way they work?</p>
<p>- What is my learners motivation to attend this training?</p>
<p>Answers to these questions will help you design training that maps to your learners' needs. You may be itching to design a game-based learning, a scenario-based or a comic strip-based learning, but if the learner analysis indicates a video cast, then so it be! Remember, course design is not a designer's fancy imagination, it is a blue print of your training module and should directly map to your learner's needs, wants, and motivations.</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/Sd3o-fyD9TI/AAAAAAAAAbc/htW5GPJHlMU/s1600-h/itch-to-design.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 146px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/Sd3o-fyD9TI/AAAAAAAAAbc/htW5GPJHlMU/s320/itch-to-design.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322666495002801458" /></a>
<p>2. Do not restrict yourself to the available tool or the content dump: The content dump is just a dump of information. Often, IDs start story boarding using the content dump, and are trapped in a content-centric course. At the most, the content dump is a convenient warehouse for all your content needs for the project. You must get out of your mindset of only eLearning or only ILT. When you think of training, ask questions like what is the best mode of delivery such that my learners learn. For example, if I'm going to train the on-the-road salesmen, how should I deliver my training? Will an eLearning work just because we specialize in it? Or, will an ILT be most effective just because the organization has trainers to deliver them? Or, can you use mobile learning since most salesmen are glued to their mobile phones 24X7? Bottom line is - think beyond content - think about your learner and what will benefit them.</p>
<p>3. Define the goal of your training: The goal of your training is the outcome of your training; not just the objective defined in your statement of work! It is good to design learning objectives - these are your grid lines in PPT. For example, your learning objectives may be: 1. Explain the selling process to village entrepreneurs. 2. Recruit village entrepreneurs as per the specified process. 3. Explain the steps to maintain sales records. These are your learning objectives that your learners will achieve by the end of the training. While it is important to address the learning objectives, keep in mind the overall goal of the program as you design the modules - which is to make the salespeople more productive.</p>
<p>4. Do not handle your learners with kid gloves: Your learners are adults so treat them like adults. </p>
<p>- Offer genuine choices - not forced choices or invalid choices. For example, do not offer learners the choice of an unstructured path knowing very well that the course design is linear.</p>
<p>- Don't have no-brainers as practice exercises - just for the sake of practice.</p>
<p>- Focus on "Do" rather than on "See" - Adult learners prefer learning through <a href="http://elearning.kern-comm.com/?tag=metacognition">metacognition</a> </p>
<p>- Do not provide examples that look good in a grade school workbook. Give them real life problems and expect them to come up with real life solutions.</p>
<p>5. Explore and experiment: Experiment using music, videos, audio, visuals that map to your learners' expectations. Do not be afraid of bold design. In fact, one of the key outcomes of learner analysis is the visual strategy of the course. Once we decided to do away with the conventional "Back" and "Next" buttons on the interface of an online training program; instead learners navigated based on the scent of information on each screen. Similarly, for a classroom training, we supplemented the classroom mode with some outdoor activities where the learners had to sell real-life products in real time! Explore various methods of testing the course. Your very stringent QA round can only help detect bugs and errors, they cannot spot hurdles to learning that your learners encounter while going through the course. Go ahead and let your <a href="http://elearning.kern-comm.com/?p=201">learners test</a> the course. You'll be surprised at what you observe - it can be a humbling and enlightening experience!</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-39636919062563979832009-03-07T15:53:00.005+05:302009-03-09T15:31:03.868+05:30Kern's Second Workshop on Web 2.0 in Mumbai - Post Lunch<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTfABvlMAI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/xkmWqkK5RpM/s1600-h/07032009152.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTfABvlMAI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/xkmWqkK5RpM/s320/07032009152.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311115052137656322" /></a>
<p> The session is underway post lunch! <a href="http://kernlearningsolutions.wordpress.com/">Vaishnavi</a> is doing a great job of facilitating this group of enthusiastic and vocal participants. Every participant has great insights and opinions to share - which has made the session very interactive. Now, the participants had a go at the Virtual World. They created their 'avatars' and explored places - from IKEA to Coca Cola to Amity Business School! Interesting discussion followed about the potential of using virtual world in real world training. </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTdqGpUwxI/AAAAAAAAAZk/skRaIulTeYs/s1600-h/07032009144.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTdqGpUwxI/AAAAAAAAAZk/skRaIulTeYs/s320/07032009144.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311113575984841490" /></a>
<p>They weighed out the pros and cons of using virtual world versus simulations. Participants explored their use in a typical sales training scenario, in an induction program scenario and other possible applications. Post a preview of the web 2.0 tools and their potentials, they are now on to hands-on tasks about tackling their workplace training using these tools.</p>
<p> As part of the team activities, the teams came up with very interesting ideas about the uses of Web 2.0 tools in their training scenario. Post enthusiastic discussions about Kern's philosophy of 360 degree training, the workshop came to an end. We hope to carry forward discussions, exchange ideas, and share information with our participants on our <a href="http://kernlearningsolutions.wordpress.com/">Workshop forum</a>. Thanks to Rahul for all logistical support! It was a great venue, great participants, and a great workshop! </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTovG_9etI/AAAAAAAAAac/Nnkri8MLIFE/s1600-h/07032009145.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTovG_9etI/AAAAAAAAAac/Nnkri8MLIFE/s320/07032009145.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311125756607036114" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTfk8gsicI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/3MUnMKJ6dBY/s1600-h/07032009153.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTfk8gsicI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/3MUnMKJ6dBY/s320/07032009153.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311115686388206018" /></a>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-54558416277396087702009-03-07T12:34:00.008+05:302009-03-09T15:27:17.879+05:30Kern's Second Workshop on Web 2.0 in Mumbai<p>Kern's second web 2.0 has started off to a great start in Mumbai. It's a great convention center - <a href="http://www.avanta.co.uk/India/offices/Platina_Serviced_Offices">Avanta</a> at Bandra Kurla Complex. We have one whole wall that overlooks the Mumbai landscape, Our participants have come in well ahead of time, which is a great thing. This time we have an interesting mix of participants from diverse background - Nitin from Mahindra First Choice, Ruchita, Swati, and Shikha from Kotak Life Insurance, Vineeta from Godrej Agrotech, Vijay from Castrol, Sachin from Convergys and Jayanti from ICMR. The participants have listed down their expectations on post-its on the wall:</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTk4s2i0bI/AAAAAAAAAaE/ftM8UBNB0Xw/s1600-h/07032009155.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTk4s2i0bI/AAAAAAAAAaE/ftM8UBNB0Xw/s320/07032009155.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311121523340399026" /></a>
<p>- What are the various web tools?</p>
<p>- What are the web 2.0 tools that I can use for training?</p>
<p>- How do we evaluate the effectiveness of these tools?</p>
<p>- How to use these tools to use interactive training material?</p>
<p>- How to teach?</p>
<p>- How to use web 2.0 tools in science, technology and medical field?</p>
<p>- How to help us making training simpler?</p>
<p>- Learn about innovative learning and training modules.</p>
<p>- Learn simple easy to deploy tools for effective communication with internal customers.</p>
<p>- How can web 2.0 tools enhance my day to day working?</p>
<p>We had an interesting discussion about the web 2.0 tools and philosophy. Interestingly people had different perspectives on the use of these tools at work. While most of them used these tools, they perceived them as 'personal tools' and not 'official tools'. This set forth an interesting discussion on the virtues of some of these tools and their benefit at work. There was an interesting discussion about virtual worlds! Unfortunately, the virtual world seemed to be a bit of a problem because of the bandwidth problem. </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTlwKFNZ5I/AAAAAAAAAaM/PMWB-Qmzt2s/s1600-h/07032009154.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTlwKFNZ5I/AAAAAAAAAaM/PMWB-Qmzt2s/s320/07032009154.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311122476079343506" /></a>
<p>Post chai and cookies, the participants have assembled for a charged-up discussion session. There seems to be an interesting discussion about our learners - their learning styles, their approach to learning, and their motivations. The current discussion is about whether "a most analytical" person is likely to play "analytical games"or not? There is one school of thought that believes that most analytical people will not spend time playing 'analytical games' and another school of thought that agrees. </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTnL6EOdbI/AAAAAAAAAaU/2lvVqngbmbc/s1600-h/07032009147.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SbTnL6EOdbI/AAAAAAAAAaU/2lvVqngbmbc/s320/07032009147.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311124052328215986" /></a>
<p>Look out for more updates as the workshop progresses.</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-12962368438549222582009-02-28T09:11:00.006+05:302009-02-28T09:34:24.377+05:30Siftables - A shift in the way we do things?<p><a href="http://learn2day.com/?p=517">Siftables</a> are the latest rage - gamers, technology enthusiasts, learning professionals, researchers, everybody is trying to explore its potential. From the limited information that we have about Siftables on the Internet, I could think of the following uses off the cuff:</p>
<p>- teaching-aid during workshops (demo flow charts, processes, phases, cause-effect relationships) am tired of flip charts, videos, and flash cards :)</p>
<p>- demo tools during boardroom meetings (can say bye bye to laptops/LCD projectors - but yes may be cumbersome for a larger group)</p>
<p>- work as calculators and memory-aids in old-age homes (the display size being bigger than a calculator but need to check the ease of use among older people)</p>
<p>- designers can use this to ideate, mock-up sequences, demo and share possible combinations of their design (has the potential of being used as a prototyping tool)</p>
<p>Check out some interesting news posts and video about <a href="http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/07/27/rethinking_display_technology/?page=2">Mediamesh</a> another piece of display technology.
<a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185143625/bctid1690989959">Watch the Siftables and Mediamesh video </a>
<p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-79362086024348400242009-02-10T02:04:00.003+05:302009-02-10T07:51:49.742+05:30Design Thinking!<p>I am a great fan of <a href="http://www.ideo.com/" "target=_new">Ideo</a>. I love the way they have institutionalized design. What can be more charming than the ability to summon creativity at will! I learned early in life at my art Fine Arts academy that creativity is not an art, it is a craft. Although I was always fascinated at how our Aquilla Sir could transform his thoughts on paper ever so effortlessly, I grew up to realize that it's the thinking behind the creation that really makes a difference.</p>
<p>This was further reinforced in my journalism school. Our prof Mr Adarsh Varma (one of the founding journos at Pioneer and stone drunk even at 12 noon) reiterated for the umpteenth time that "editors are not born, they are made!" You only need to cultivate an eye for detail to make the cut. This stayed with me as I ran around as a reporter trying to cover stories and then trying to have them published without being hacked into a quarter of the original. That's when one veteran shared with me his pearls of wisdom - it's not how good you write or what facts you present, it's about the structure you follow to make the story relevant for your reader. </p>
<p>When I joined a corporate in 98 as a tentative editor in an unexciting domain of computer-based training, I did not think I would survive the mundane system. More so as editing meant thumbing through 1000 pages of MSTP and then trying to convince a bunch of computer-crazy youngsters that uncheck and deselect are grammatically incorrect! Slowly, this turned out to be my biggest challenge ever - trying to convince a group of young GNIITians (hired as instructional designers but aspiring to become programmers) that they too could write. And, break their beliefs that writers are either born or are English majors! The next challenge was to teach them to design courses. I could see them flinch when asked to design the experience of baking a cake. They would invariably begin with throwing in flour, butter, eggs and sugar together. Slowly, they started "thinking" design. <p>
<p>Today, many years later I sense deja vu when a client asks me to cut down research and analysis and get down to design. "Why don't you cut the crap and get a creative chap to just design the solution?" Strangely, this does not frustrate me any longer. I jump at this opportunity to share my belief about design thinking. This philosophy holds true as we groom future IDs and designers at <a href="http://www.kern-comm.com">Kern</a>. </p>
<p>This reinforces what <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/linda-tischler/design-times/what-david-kelley-taught-me-about-life-or-why-these-are-good-old-da" "target=_new">David Kelly</a> has to say - move away from thinking of yourself as designers to design thinkers. Design is a systematic scientific process. You can follow a methodology or a defined process and rest assured that you can arrive at a design solution. And, if you look at the creative success of Ideo and their huge portfolio of award winning work, you certainly want to believe that a solid methodology can yield the most creative of ideas. At Kern, we too have seen the success of our structured approach towards solving many complex design problems.</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-86552270414282370852009-02-04T18:07:00.005+05:302009-02-04T18:42:47.470+05:30Workshop 2.0: Insights and Ideas for Future<p>Our first workshop on Training 2.0 ended on a great note on January 31. <a href="http://kernlearningsolutions.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/kern-successfully-organizes-the-training-20-workshop/" target="_new">Vaishnavi</a> has captured it well. The participants were happy about that the workshop met their expectations. Don't forget to hear what they have to say about the workshop. </p>
<p>The workshop also threw up some interesting insights about Web 2.0. </p>
<p>- Most of the participants have been using Web 2.0 tools without actually being aware that these are Web 2.0 tools.</p>
<p>- The most common perception about Web 2.0 tools are that these are just networking tools. You can use these to stay connected. Not many were aware of the potential of these tools in training.</p>
<p>- Individual classroom trainers were most excited about the prospect of using these tools to deliver training. While there was initial hesitance or insecurity about sharing "content" freely, they seemed to warm up to the idea of using Podcasts, videocasts, blogs, and forums to reach out to a larger audience!</p>
<p>- Virtual world has a perception that you can "kill hours" on it during leisure. The case studies of 'training in virtual world' really set people thinking and they started throwing ideas...</p>
<p>We have started receiving requests for future workshops from HR Managers in Mumbai, engineering institutes, and other individual trainers. Vaishnavi is also thinking of updating the content of the workshop and throw in interesting activities for participants where they have hands-on experience designing learning using some of the Web 2.0 tools.</p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYmTncW6YxI/AAAAAAAAAX4/Vcg6IEn0ChE/s1600-h/SL-happy+experience.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYmTncW6YxI/AAAAAAAAAX4/Vcg6IEn0ChE/s320/SL-happy+experience.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298928742414574354" /></a>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-35677034685207013352009-01-31T13:38:00.009+05:302009-01-31T16:50:59.177+05:30Workshop 2.0: Session on Virtual World!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYQn_N2sRDI/AAAAAAAAAXA/xyDATfMX5KU/s1600-h/Second+Life-changing+appearance.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYQn_N2sRDI/AAAAAAAAAXA/xyDATfMX5KU/s320/Second+Life-changing+appearance.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297403028698842162" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYQnvvBD5hI/AAAAAAAAAW4/0VDlvosAmGg/s1600-h/Second+Life+-+avatar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYQnvvBD5hI/AAAAAAAAAW4/0VDlvosAmGg/s320/Second+Life+-+avatar.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297402762722797074" /></a>
<p>Our workshop participants are crazy about games. Considering their profiles during registrations, we are pleasantly surprised that they are avid gamers. Lots of games mindgames.com, Age of Empires, Cricket 2008, racing games, shooter games, snooker, chess, Quake... so it wasn't surprising that most of them were familiar with the Virtual World.</p>
<p>Well, we are now on the session on how we can use Virtual Games for Training or learning. The session's resumed after a sumptuous lunch of Subs, sandwiches, chips and coke. We have all settled in well for an engaging workshop ahead. We could not have asked for a more engaging session what with having a glimpse into the fascinating virtual world of CISCO, Princeton University, Stanford, Harvard Law school etc. Participants seem quite enthused by the "endless possibilities" that these virtual world "simulations" have for the learners today. </p>
<p>Vaishnavi has just demonstrated a "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJY2Iwbzop4">heart murmur simulator</a>" and asks participants how they can use this for learning at their workplace? Our participant from Taj Deccan says that he could create a simulation to show how to check-in and use it for training. There is another interesting video that shows <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bXu2ozXo0&feature=channel_page">creation through collaboration by architects on Second Life</a>. We have moved on to details about Virtual World such as avatars, currency, trading, etc.</p>
<p>So, the next obvious questions are "why do people own land on Virtual World?" "how can they make money on virtual world?' After all these are answered, participants move on to explore the learning possibilities that virtual world hold for trainers. "We can bring in all training modes under one roof, let's say podcasts, videos, lectures, everything that we do in real time." "Virtual world can help us overcome the constraints of time, space, and geography."</p>
<p>"So how much land does Second Life have?" Well, this question from one of the participants got everybody thinking.. So, Second life session is on in full swing with participants glued to this fascinating virtual world that can possibly fulfill all your dreams!</p>
<p>The participants then moved to exploring the virtual world themselves. Although most of them were new to Second Life, they were completely engrossed with their Avatars. They got down to exploring the spaces in this world, chatting up with other SL avatars, changing appearances, trying to shop, checking out music, fashion, having coffee... well they were having fun on SL.</p>
<p>"It's fun! It's creative... you have complete control over your actions... there is no hindrance to exploring things... space to create your own thing... interact with others in your chosen space ..." These are some of the reactions that our participants had after exploring Second Life!</p>
<p>Obviously, they were abuzz with ideas about how they can use this for training and learning. One of them suggested using this space to discuss case studies, another had an idea that he could create an empty room and ask his learners to do-up the room as per their hotel norms. So lots of ideas coming by...and we hope they have lot more by the time they reach their workplace!</p>
More of our workshop <a href="http://tinyurl.com/abnk8s">pictures</a> here.Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-74326906101151955552009-01-31T11:45:00.007+05:302009-01-31T12:37:42.759+05:30Workshop 2.0: Training 2.0 in progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYP2sPj7uSI/AAAAAAAAAWw/x0Wmpw1BBA0/s1600-h/Workshop+Session2+in+progress.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYP2sPj7uSI/AAAAAAAAAWw/x0Wmpw1BBA0/s320/Workshop+Session2+in+progress.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297348826669758754" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYP2aeOxpuI/AAAAAAAAAWo/YuttzuOme3k/s1600-h/Workshop+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SYP2aeOxpuI/AAAAAAAAAWo/YuttzuOme3k/s320/Workshop+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297348521369904866" /></a>
<p>Our first workshop "Training 2.0: Training's New Avatar" is off to a great start today. We have 7 participants toady and the workshop started off to a great start over cups of steaming tea, coffee on a pleasant Saturday morning!!</p>
<p>We have an interesting mix of participants: hoteliers, individual trainers, and participants from IT world. This is bringing in great discussions among the group. There are some who are new to Web 2.0, some are just about familiar with Web 2.0, and some who have not quite accepted the change that web 2.0 has brought in.</p>
<p>We're just about half day into the session and I would love to jot down some interesting findings from the workshop so far that has overshot the session duration. </p>
<p>a) Learner 2.0 may be more confident over the net, more social over the net, but he is an introvert in real world, he is unsocial in the real world.</p>
<p>b) One of the participant is unsure of the credibility of information on the net; he is unsure of what content to trust. He would want some kind of accreditation or a standard body certifying content on the web. He would like to see this seal of approval before he uses information from a source.</p>
<p>c) Common consensus among learners: The fact that the learner is more independent now has triggered the "web 2.0 revolution". </p>
<p>d) Participants are eagerly sharing their experiences with Blogs, their perception of blogs and text messages.. "I blog about things that I strongly disagree...if I cant get my views on TV, I can blog about it and reach out to people."</p>
<p>More follows...</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-61006555036701946802009-01-28T00:01:00.006+05:302009-01-28T00:14:13.641+05:30Are Web 2.0 tools designed to support learning?<p>Whether it is Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 tools, we need to understand and evaluate the affordances of the tools and their abilities to support and deliver learning effectively. Today, I came across a <a href="http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/burden-2.pdf" target="_new">case study</a> that evaluates the pedagogical affordances of web 2.0 technologies. </p>
<p>The case study makes some interesting points about the pedagogical affordances of web 2.0 technologies. To put it across in layman’s perspective, the case study analyses the abilities of web 2.0 tools to deliver training.<p>
<p>1) Very few of the current crop of Web 2.0 technologies started life designed as educational tools. (Which is very true. Web 2.0 technologies are designed for collaboration, sharing, content creation etc. They are not designed exclusively to deliver training.)</p>
<p>2) The specific design and functionality of a particular tool or technology does not define its pedagogical usefulness. Rather there are other important ingredients required including the imagination and creativity of the individual user as they conceptualize problems or issues in their own environment that the particular tool might facilitate or help solve. (I agree. As a consequence of point 1, most web 2.0 tools cannot by themselves deliver training. To help integrate into the formal structure of training delivery, trainers and learners have to tweak and modify them with the features and functions to support training-related tasks.)</p>
<p>3) Categories of ‘affordances’ associated with Web 2.0 or social software:
• Connectivity
• Collaborative information discovery and sharing
• Content creation
• Knowledge and information aggregation
• Content modification</p>
<p>However, what is interesting is that these affordances need not necessarily lend themselves into “training or learning” affordances. Let’s map the affordances of Web 2.0 tools to evaluate their applicability in a training framework. </p>
<p><b>What are the typical learning/training needs and how can Web 2.0 tools support these needs?</b></p>
<p>1. Learners should be able to relate concepts to real life application. To facilitate this, Web 2.0 tools must support streaming media and dynamic content in order to show application of concepts through cases, scenarios, and examples. Trainer can post video clips visuals or presentations, learners can reflect on these and post their comments. Examples: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEQ1D2WxEIo" target="_new">YouTube</a>, discussion forums, blogs.</p>
<p>2. Learners want to practice what they have learned and preferably in a real-life or realistic situation. Therefore, Web 2.0 tools must have features that support free movement of learners within an environment that is close to real. The environment should show consequences, offer alternative paths to explore, make decisions, deconstruct, move, and respond to stimuli. Trainers can design a dynamic environment that simulates real life. In this environment, learners are exposed to situations or offered options where they can practice in a fail-safe mode. Examples: Virtual world, simulations </p>
<p>3. Learners today need to work in groups during the learning process. The Web 2.0 technologies must support multiuser activities such that multiple learners can interact in a dynamic learning environment. The learning environment can facilitate interaction among many learners and allow them to interact, share, and create. Examples: Virtual worlds, blogs, and wikis.</p>
<p>4. For learning to be effective, it needs to facilitate interaction among learners, trainers, and experts in a synchronous mode. To make this happen, Web 2.0 tools need to support instant exchange of messages and feedback among multiple users. They should provide a platform where learners can post comments and trainers/experts can view them and respond. Examples: Virtual world, web-conferencing tools like WebEx, Twitter</p>
<p>5. Learners want to have the freedom to take notes, make handwritten annotations on visuals, video, comment on specific audio files etc. The Web 2.0 tools should enable learners to scribble notes, make annotation on the video or the image, and rip information bytes from the videos, podcast or audio files. Both trainers and learners should be able to display annotation (feedback) from each other instantly or selectively depending on the training need. Examples: Web-meeting and conferencing tools, web learning applications </p>
<p>You can view a list of <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/janehart/top-100-tools-for-learning2008-presentation?type=powerpoint" target="_new">Top 100 Tools for Learning</a> compiled by Jane Hart of Center of Learning and Performance Technologies. </p>
<p>Therefore, to conclude, Web 2.0 tools are designed to facilitate collaboration, sharing of information, content creation, easy updation, and democratization of the web world. Trainers, learners and instructional designers can capitalize on these facilities to design and deliver effective learning solutions. </p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-31711632871443541792009-01-27T23:39:00.009+05:302009-01-28T00:01:30.554+05:30Designing Training Delivered Using Web 2.0 Tools<p>This is the first in the series on learning, training, and designing instructions in the Web 2.0 environment.</p>
<p>I remember having a discussion with <a href="http://kernlearningsolutions.wordpress.com/" target="_new">Vaishnavi</a> about how instructional design for Web 2.0-based learning should be different from that of traditional learning (classroom training and eLearning).</p>
<p>The fact remains that learning is about learners and not about tools or technology. Also, web 2.0 is not about a tool or technology, it is about the philosophy where technology empowers learners to do much more than just view and read off the web. While I believe that the basic premise for designing instructions will remain the same, the instructional strategies used will depend a lot on the learning environment, the changing profile of learners, and the new age Internet tools that also act as learning tools.</p>
<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/understandinglearners" target="_new">Understanding learners</a> will always be (and has always been) the most critical aspect of designing training. This involves identifying their learning needs and providing solutions that address their needs. In web 2.0 scenario, the scope for instructional designers has vastly increased because the learner behavior is changing. Today, learners are in the “rip, mix, and publish” era; they are more empowered than before. They are not content with passive viewing of information; they want to contribute actively to their learning process. So, how does this change the way they learn?</p>
<p>The biggest change is the shift from uni-directional, top-down, centralized and structured learning to “informal learning”. Informal learning is learner-driven. It is an on-going process, it may or may not follow a structured path, it may or may not have a beginning and an ending, it may or may not be monitored and guided, and it may be conscious or unconscious.
How do these dynamics impact the role of an instructional designer?*</p>
<p>1) Instructional designer has to keep in mind the changing behavior and profile of the learner. The learner wants more control over his learning today. Therefore, learning design has to facilitate learner control, cater for the <a href="http://kernlearningsolutions.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/learner-20-two-videos" target="_new">learner 2.0</a>.</p>
<p>2) ID has a lot of freedom to explore the various delivery methods while designing a learning solution. Therefore, ID needs to be aware of the potential of the tools and technology available in web 2.0.</p>
<p>3) While the basic principles of ID hold good as a guiding principle, IDs need to explore and innovate other development methodologies to design and deliver learning. The design process needs to be more dynamic and innovative to be able to exploit the advantages that each of these tools offer. </p>
* Will update this post with more research and examples soon.Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-5802882344060180992008-12-10T15:51:00.006+05:302008-12-10T16:39:11.963+05:30Wishing for a Google Writer!<p>Everyday when I check blog feeds on my Google Reader, I wonder when Google Reader will not just be a 'reader' but become Google Reader cum Writer! Especially, when I have more than 50 blog feeds to read and reflect, the last thing I want to do is go to 50 individual blogs just to share my comments with them. </p>
<p>The idea of Google Reader is great. You have all on one page. But that was great to begin with, now we demand more! </p>
<p>If I can view them all on one page, why can't I write or comment on them as well as I scan across? It is painful to go to individual blogs to comment on them and keep coming back to the Reader. The need to write becomes a necessity in the Web 2.0 world when you are actually trying to collaborate, share, and exchange ideas with fellow bloggers!</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-91957815244109087332008-11-19T11:58:00.003+05:302008-11-19T12:06:35.572+05:30What sets apart a great performer from a good one?(Inspired by <a href="http://varmarashmi.blogspot.com/">Rash’s article</a> on Innovation at Kern)
<p>I often get into discussions with my colleagues about what makes a good performer great. What are the characteristics that set apart one from the other? And, here I’m only referring to the intrinsic qualities and characteristics. I know there are loads of other external factors; but when working in a small high-performing innovation-driven company, the intrinsic factors play a critical role.</p>
<p>To begin with, I believe <b>passion </b>is the single most important thing that drives a great performer. Working without passion is working like a robot – mechanically. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing yet everything! Nothing because if you work like a robot, you deliver what is expected of you – you work optimally. And why everything because you “only” deliver as “expected” you are not motivated to exceed expectations. Since you are not passionate about your work, if any other variable goes wrong in your system, you collapse. If conditions change, you need to be re-programmed to change your orientation – essentially you depend heavily on instructions or external help to make things happen. You are not self-driven.</p>
<p>So why is this a problem? Well, from a philosophical standpoint this is a problem because you are not in charge of your life – you let life control you. From a practical standpoint, if you are not self-motivated, you do not grow. You stagnate. You grow only if a godfather or a guru takes charge of your life. But again, in absence of self-motivation, it’s your godfather or guru who grows by growing you - not you!</p>
<p>Another hallmark of a great performer is the urge to know the <b>big picture</b>. You have a choice. Either you are content just laying bricks as directed or you are curious to know the layout much before you lay the bricks. In case of the former, you do not care whether you are laying bricks for the bedroom, bathroom, apartment, amphitheatre, bridge or a stadium. You just stick to what you are told – lay bricks as per the blue print.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with this. You lay bricks day in and day out and master it. You do it for 2 years, 5 years, 10 years… what next? You become a great bricklayer and its perfectly fine if you are happy doing it. But in the bigger scheme of things, you are just a good performer. You cannot become a great performer because your focus is too narrow. You do not have bigger understanding of things. After 3-5 years of bricklaying, you must know what are blueprints, how are they designed, how does bricklaying change with change in the master blueprint. You need to be curious about how your brick laying makes a difference to the final outcome of the project. Only if you know the big picture, will you be motivated to think, dream, innovate, and ultimately be a great performer.</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907329.post-81248247366273875812008-11-07T17:02:00.005+05:302008-11-07T17:34:17.223+05:30ICICI's Internet Banking - All Pain No GainI know there is lot venom spewed about ICICI Bank's services, and I too have sympathized on occasions about the painful process of Internet security. But I realized the degree of pain only after I went through the process myself. I seriously wonder if I would be half as pained if my account was hacked into. :)
<p>1. Suddenly, we receive a mandate that we need to pay taxes only online - no checks accepted (seems like the Internet banking guys have formed a cartel. Have held guns to our heads and want us to file taxes only online.) So here you have a paradoxical situation - we want to pay taxes but can't unless you have your e-banking enabled. So you pay taxes, pay a penalty because payment is delayed while you wait to enable your e-banking account, finally pay online, and pay fees for paying online by using e-banking. Wish we could create such compelling business models for our business!!</p>
<p>2. Now is the trick part. Only one director cannot authorize the online payment. This is because some 400 years back when we opened our a/c with ICICI bank and had small revenues, we had authorized 2 directors to authenticate payouts more than 50K. Now, 400 years later, almost every payout exceeds 50K but we still need to authenticate each and every payout. Well, you'd ask why can’t we change the authentication process? Glad you did not ask, I could punish you by asking an ICICI agent to explain the procedure that begins with submission of residence proof, employment proof (doesn't matter if you are the owner!), PAN, driving license, DOB certificate, you kids' birth certificate, your wife's credit card statement, your maid's salary slip... and all things imaginable! Doesn't matter if you are an old customer, doesn't matter if you have been transacting with them for donkeys years, doesn't matter if they have all conceivable information about you.</p>
<p>3. Now that we are conned into using the e-banking facility, we need to have a password as well. Please note that because ICICI is a "safe" bank, they want us to change the passwords every 15 days. These passwords have to be completely new, should be alphanumeric, and at least 8 digit long. Well, only Shakuntala Devi can remember such passwords!! Naturally, I lost steam after changing my password after the fourth fortnight and gave up! Consequently, my e-banking rights were withdrawn.</p>
<p>4. Ok! Finally, I have to go back to enable my e-bank accounts. After going through the agony of a 30-minute painful verification process over telephone with a robot-like call center executive, I was told that my email id has been verified and I can apply for my e-banking password online. I was told that I'd receive an email confirmation in 2 days. Thankfully, after a week and with serious follows by our office manager, I was told that my email is authenticated.</p>
<p>5. Then begins the most frustrating part. I go to the bank website and select Corporate banking. Then, I go to the option called "reset password". I go through the steps as directed. But nothing happens! Why? Because, Internet security is important, they trust paper communication. So, I need to fax them a signed request to reset the password. Having done that, I receive an email the next day confirming that my password is reset. </p>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SRQt5auSTqI/AAAAAAAAASE/JoTKZawNG8Q/s1600-h/Snapshot+2008-11-07+17-20-36.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RHpnKsLqUD8/SRQt5auSTqI/AAAAAAAAASE/JoTKZawNG8Q/s400/Snapshot+2008-11-07+17-20-36.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265884328752205474" /></a>
(Btw, see the image above, I have to enter a Passcode but there is no information about what this is!)
<p>6. What do you expect when you receive a message that your password is reset? Like all gullible fools I understand that I have a new password now so I can conduct my online transaction. But hold on... that's not to be. The sinister message reads: </p>
<p><i>Please note that since you have got the transaction access so to get the requested password activated please fax a request for activation mentioning your Corporate ID, user Id, Account No. and the request ID to the fax no (022) 67574557 or email the scanned copy to corporatecare@icicibank.com. Request needs to be signed by the user.</i> </p>
<p> I seriously wonder who designed the authentication process! If you have sent me a password, obviously I don't want it to hatch eggs or file them away as FDs. I intend to use it. So, why fax you another written request for this? Anyways, the entire exercise started pre-Diwali and thanks to ICICI's safe banking habits, I'm still struggling to log on to my Internet banking account!</p>Geeta Bosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870199239314438771noreply@blogger.com1